Many vehicles incorporate keypad systems. Some keypad systems include a touch-sensitive keypad located on an exterior area of the vehicle near, for example, a B-pillar or a window of the vehicle.
Doors of the vehicle can lock or unlock in response to a user utilizing the keypad to input an appropriate code. Other functions of the vehicle can also be controlled through the keypad, such as, for example, locking or unlocking a trunk compartment. The keypad system can permit control of such functions from outside the vehicle, and without requiring the user to manipulate a physical latch on the door or interface directly with a key fob.
The keypads of some keypad systems are disposed adjacent transparent panels of the vehicle, such as adjacent a rear side glass panel of the vehicle. The keypads can include virtual buttons associated with, for example, capacitance-type sensing devices. The virtual buttons each correspond to a designated region of the transparent panel. A user can contact one or more of the designated regions to activate one or more of the virtual buttons.